Why VC-Funded Startups Need Source-Available, Self-Hosted eCommerce
No VC fund that we know of will invest in an eCommerce business that’s hosted on Shopify — or any other SaaS platform.
We’ve had this conversation with countless startup founders. The reality is, when you’re raising funding or planning an exit, VCs will ask one question: Is your tech proprietary? How does it help you build a moat — a competitive advantage? How does it drive your valuation?
And if you’re on Shopify, you get exactly what everybody else gets. That’s not differentiation. That’s vendor lock-in.
In this article, we’ll break down why a self-hosted, fully customizable eCommerce solution with your own proprietary IP on top is the smarter choice for a VC-funded startup — and how it can increase your chances of raising your next funding round by driving your valuation and extending your runway.
The Problem With SaaS Platforms for VC-Funded Startups
You’re Building on Rented Land
Every single Shopify store gets the exact same functionality. You’ll never know how it works under the hood — you can only use their APIs or build apps on top of their platform.
And what happens if those APIs change? What if Shopify says you have to update your app in 30 or 90 days — or else? Your business model has to fit within their constraints. You’re not building your own technology — you’re renting someone else’s.
This is a critical distinction that VCs care about deeply. When a VC invests in a startup, they’re investing in proprietary technology, unique capabilities, and defensible competitive advantages. If your entire eCommerce operation runs on the same platform as millions of other stores, using the same tools and the same features — where’s the differentiation?
You Can’t Innovate Beyond the Platform’s Limitations
When Shopify says jump, all you can do is ask how high. You’re competing with millions of other stores using the same tools. That’s not differentiation — and VCs know it. Your ability to innovate, iterate, and create a unique customer experience is fundamentally capped by whatever your SaaS platform allows.
For a VC-funded startup that needs to move fast, experiment, and build proprietary technology that justifies its valuation — this is a dealbreaker.
The Real Cost of SaaS Dependency
Beyond the lack of differentiation, SaaS platforms impose real financial costs that eat into your runway:
- Transaction fees on every single sale, reducing your margins
- Escalating plan costs as you grow — the more successful you become, the more you pay
- Per-unit charges for additional storefronts, vendors, or tenants
- Third-party app subscriptions that pile up — a typical Shopify Plus store can easily spend $2,500+/month on the platform plus $3,000+/month on app subscriptions
For a startup trying to extend its runway and demonstrate capital efficiency to investors, this is the wrong direction.
So If SaaS Doesn’t Work, What Does?
You need something fully customizable that you can actually own. That’s exactly what we’ve built with Spree Commerce — an open-source eCommerce platform built for enterprises and VC-funded startups.
About Spree Commerce
Spree is built to go to market fast, grow reliably and evolve easily. It has over 15,000 stars on GitHub, making it one of the most popular open-source eCommerce platforms in the world. Brands like GoDaddy, Bookshop.org, Bonobos, Huckberry, and GOOP use Spree to power their eCommerce operations.
There’s a free Community Edition that’s fully open-source. But for VC-funded startups and enterprises with more complex needs, we also offer a Spree Enterprise Edition with additional features, more integrations, faster time to launch, and dedicated support from our team.
What Makes Spree Different from SaaS Solutions
Full Access to the Source Code
This is the most important thing for a VC-funded startup. With Spree, you get full access to the source code. That means you can build whatever your business needs — no constraints, no limitations, nothing holding you back.
More critically, you can keep your customizations proprietary. They are independent from any other vendor. You call the shots. You decide how you want to evolve your platform. If you need to pivot or iterate — and what startup doesn’t? — you just do it. No one is stopping you.
This is exactly the kind of proprietary IP that increases your valuation and demonstrates to investors that your technology is a genuine differentiator.
API-First Architecture
Spree is built API-first, so you can power your storefronts, mobile apps, and connect it to your existing IT ecosystem using REST APIs. You can integrate it with any system you want — your ERP, CRM, authentication systems, whatever your business requires.
And those integrations stay stable because nobody’s forcing updates on you. When you own the platform, you control the upgrade timeline.
Self-Hosted — Your Infrastructure, Your Rules
You host Spree wherever you want. Pick your cloud provider, pick your region. If you need to meet GDPR, HIPAA, California privacy laws, or any other compliance requirements — you can set that up. Your data lives where you decide it lives.
This level of control is particularly important for startups operating in regulated industries or handling sensitive customer data.
No Transaction Fees
This is a big one for startups trying to extend their runway. With Spree, there are no transactional fees eating into every sale. No one is forcing you onto a more expensive plan as you grow. You can run multiple storefronts for different customer segments or brands. You can onboard vendors if you want to run a multi-vendor marketplace. You can use a wide range of capabilities — all without additional per-unit fees.
When every dollar of runway matters, eliminating recurring SaaS taxes is a meaningful competitive advantage.
Enterprise Edition: Build Fast, Deliver Reliable Solutions, Evolve Quickly
For VC-funded startups that need to move fast without reinventing the wheel, the Spree Enterprise Edition provides ready-to-use modules that dramatically shorten time to market while still giving you full code ownership.
Multi-Vendor Marketplace
If you’re building a marketplace, the Enterprise Edition includes marketplace automations for vendor onboarding, product syncing, order syncing, and automated payouts. This is sophisticated functionality that would take months to build from scratch — it comes out of the box with the Enterprise Edition.
B2B eCommerce
For B2B startups, we include customer segmentation, custom pricing rules per account or per customer segment, user roles, and separation of duties. Complex B2B workflows that SaaS platforms struggle to accommodate are natively supported.
Multi-Tenant eCommerce
If you’re hosting an ecosystem of partners, resellers, or white-label stores, Spree can host thousands of tenants in a multi-tenant architecture. You can build your own SaaS on top of Spree or plug it into your existing systems.
Why This Matters for Startups
The Enterprise Edition is designed to help startups move at startup speed:
- Build fast — pre-built modules and integrations mean you’re not starting from zero
- Deliver reliably — production-proven technology used by brands like GoDaddy and Bookshop.org
- Evolve quickly — full code access means you can iterate, pivot, and ship features as fast as your team can code
This combination of speed and ownership is what VCs want to see. You’re not locked into a vendor’s roadmap. You have enterprise-grade capabilities from day one, with the freedom to customize and differentiate as your business evolves.
How to Implement Spree for Your Business
We follow a 12-step process to evaluate and go live, designed to de-risk the implementation and get your startup to market as quickly as possible.
Discovery Phase
Step 1: Meet and Greet. We learn about your business goals, requirements, and timeline.
Step 2: NDA and Project Review. We do a deep technical review of your existing systems and project requirements.
Step 3: Requirements Checklist. We map your requirements against Spree’s out-of-the-box capabilities to identify what’s ready to go and what needs custom development. This is a critical step — it gives you a clear picture of scope, cost, and timeline before any development begins.
Step 4: Architecture. We design how Spree fits into your existing ecosystem, including integrations, hosting, and infrastructure considerations.
Delivery Phase
Step 5: Project Phasing and Timeline with budget estimation — no surprises.
Step 6: Delivery Team Structure. We can deliver the full solution using our team, embed our team with yours for collaborative development, or advise your in-house developers. This flexibility is important for startups that may already have a development team in place.
Steps 7–10: License procurement, support options, hosting setup, and all the operational details.
Steps 11–12: We deliver the project in sprints, then hand it over to your team — but we stick around for ongoing support. We don’t just disappear after launch.
Typical Timelines
- Smaller projects: 3–6 months from start to launch
- Larger, more complex projects: may take longer depending on scope
And unlike SaaS platforms, you don’t have to talk to a chatbot. You can get on a call with our team and address any issues, concerns, or simply discuss how to evolve your platform as you grow.
Who Is This For?
VC-Funded Startups or Companies Anticipating an Exit
If you’re raising funding or planning an exit, you need proprietary IP and proprietary code to maximize your valuation. You need custom features that competitors can’t just copy. You need to create a moat and show your investors that your tech is actually a differentiator — not a rented commodity.
Startups Whose Business Model Doesn’t Fit the SaaS Mold
Maybe you’re a B2B platform with sophisticated pricing models and approval workflows. Or a wholesale operation with diverse payment methods and sales processes. Or you’re building a multi-vendor marketplace. Or you’re migrating from a legacy solution that’s no longer cutting it. In all of these cases, a SaaS platform’s one-size-fits-all approach won’t serve you.
Businesses That Need Full Control
If you’ve got strict compliance and security requirements, need custom integrations with your existing ecosystem, or your team wants to actually own and audit the codebase — Spree Commerce is built exactly for this.
The Bottom Line
Look, if Shopify is working great for you, that’s excellent. Not every business needs to self-host its eCommerce platform.
But if you’re a VC-funded startup — or you’re planning to raise a funding round, or you’re anticipating an exit — you need proprietary technology that actually adds to your valuation and lets you innovate beyond what everybody else has access to.
The difference between building on a SaaS platform and owning your technology stack is the difference between renting and owning. VCs invest in ownership.
We’ve already helped multiple startups raise millions of dollars by giving them a technology foundation that’s proprietary, defensible, and scalable. If you’re ready to discuss how a source-available, self-hosted eCommerce solution can drive your valuation and help you get more funding, book an exploratory call with us and let’s talk about whether Spree is the right fit for your business.
